Best way to "tame" all the Cartographer's Annual symbols...
I'm trying to get a better grip on using all of the symbols that I've got from the CA series. For example, the 2/11 issue has all of those awesome symbols... but they're somewhat inaccessible. As of right now, if I want to use some of the standard debris symbols from DD3, then add some of the debris from CA 2/11, I have to constantly switch back and forth between different symbol catalogs (DD3 Color vs. CA 49 Dungeon). On top of that, if I want to use the library furniture from 2/11, it doesn't have the + icon that you normally get in symbol catalogs (where you can have 9 different versions of something collapse into one listing, for example).
Are there any user-friendly ways to get all of the symbols from all of the annuals together in some form that doesn't require constantly jumping from one catalog to another? I'd still like to separate things as disparate as hand-drawn vs. realistic, but otherwise, I'd like having all of the options for a certain type of symbol in one place.
Thanks!
Are there any user-friendly ways to get all of the symbols from all of the annuals together in some form that doesn't require constantly jumping from one catalog to another? I'd still like to separate things as disparate as hand-drawn vs. realistic, but otherwise, I'd like having all of the options for a certain type of symbol in one place.
Thanks!
Comments
- Choose the basic style you are using and open one of its symbol catalogs.
- Save that catalog under a new name.
- Using the "Import" Feature from withing the Symbol Manager collect all the other catalogs you want to access in this catalog. This can be from different styles too.
- Start a new map in your basic style.
- Click Symbols > Symbol Settings. This opens the list of available settings in that style.
- Click "Advanced" and click one of the settings (to load its default properties).
- Click "New" and give it a new name, keeping the base name of the setting (for example if you're using the basic DD3 style, name it "DD3 Color My Symbols".
- Click "Properties" and choose "keep current settings throughout". This is better if you're using lots of different symbols in one setting.
- Click "Browse" and navigate to your custom catalog. Select it for the setting and "Save".
Your custom setting is now available from Symbols > Symbol Settings command. If you want the catalog loaded on opening the map, go to File > Drawing Properties > Map Notes and open the OnOpenMacro. Replace the file name given for the CATALOG command with your own.
If you want to create custom settings for the different catalog buttons (e.g. Furniture) , just create a new setting (as above), keeping the keyword for the specific button in the name. E.g. To create a custom furniture settings, call it "DD3 Color My Furniture". You can then modify its properties and point it to a new catalog. All of the settings with "Furniture" in the name will be listed when you click the Furniture button.
I hope this helps a little in creating your own organization of symbols and catalogs.
Do you know how I can set multiple symbols to "collapse" into one group? For example, in the CC3 overland symbols, there are multiple versions of mountains that you can access by clicking the "+" button on the first symbol of the group. A lot of the symbols from CA 2/11 have multiple versions with only slight differences, so it would be great to be able to do this.
First, load the symbol catalog into the drawing window (instead of the symbol catalog window). To do this, just load it as any other drawing (You need to change file type in the drop down box in the open dialog to see the symbol catalogs).
No, go to Symbols --> Symbol manager, select the symbols that should be part of a set, and hit the Options button. Now, you have a check box that says something like "Symbol is one of a collection". This will cause the symbols to merge into a group, provided they have near-identical symbol names (only differ by a letter or a number at the end, there are some options for this in that dialog as well). If the names are not near-identical, you can also rename the symbols if you desire.
Now just close the symbol manager, hit save to update the symbol catalog file. Now, the next time you use this catalog, the symbols should be grouped.
For a group of symbols to collapse into a collection (that's how we're calling these groups), three conditions must be met:
1. The symbols must all have the same name, except for a number or letter at the end.
2. They must be next to each other in the catalog list of symbols.
3. Each symbol must have the option "Symbol is one of a collection" set. The other options define how the symbols in the collection behave.
The "Expand all collections" option mentioned above tells the catalog window whether to respect collections or not, and the little + icon on the symbol in the catalog window allows you to open and collapse the collection as you need it.